Professor: Everyone read the article I gave you about
mandatory voting? Okay, good. Well, in recent general elec-
tions in both the U.S. and the U.K., voter turnout has been
quite low, and so, there have been editorials in newspapers
and commentators on TV talking about . . . about forcing
people to come out and vote, about making them vote if
they want to or not.
Now I know, as it says in the journal article that I gave
you, that Australia and a number of other countries have
this mandatory voting system. And . . . I’m sure that in
these places, that they have a, a really good turnout. I
mean, it’s the law, you gotta vote. But personally, I think it’s
better to have a smaller number of people who vote really
well, who vote smart, than to have a really big turnout. If
there’s no compulsion to vote, no law that says you have to
vote, then the people who do vote really want to vote, and
they’re the ones who are well informed about the candi-
dates, about the issues and so on . . .
To me, there’s a huge difference between voting and
paying taxes. If, say, 40% of citizens don’t pay taxes, what
happens? The government runs out of funds, it stops func-
tioning. What happens if 40% of the people don’t vote?
Think about it. Nothing. Nothing happens. Officials are still
elected, and the government goes along just fine.
Now, it may be true that, if you don’t vote, you’re not giv-
ing your active consent to your choice of government, but
you are exercising a freedom, your freedom not to vote. In
fact, some people use not voting as a way to make a state-
ment. You may be saying, for example, that you don’t agree
with any of the candidates, or that you feel the political
process has nothing to offer you.

Then, there’s the theory that humans killed off mam-
moths indirectly, by bringing disease to the New World.
This is an interesting theory, but a theory needs evidence.
Scientists have examined the remains of many dead mam-
moths and found no sign, none, of any infectious disease.
Then there’s the climate-change theory, that mammoths
died because it got warmer. The thing is, mammoths endured
much more violent climate changes in the past and survived
them just fine. Besides, their relatives in the Old World, the
ancestors of the African and Indian elephants, managed to
survive this climate change without any problems.
So, maybe one of these theories is correct. Maybe a
combination of these factors doomed the mammoths,
killed them all off. But . . . maybe, just maybe, none of these
theories is true, and we still don’t know the true cause of
the mammoths’ extinction.
Narrator: Task 5
Listen to part of a lecture in an art class.
Professor: Now, um, it may surprise you to hear this,
because I don’t just teach art, I’m a working artist myself, as
you know, but . . . I don’t agree with the idea of government
support for individual artists. Why not, you ask?
Well, plumbing is an important occupation. Where would
we be without plumbers, huh? But are there special grants for
plumbers? Plumbers can’t take a year off at taxpayers’
expense to . . . to finish a special plumbing project, now can
they? To me, it’s not fair to treat artists as any different from
plumbers or from anyone else. There were great American
artists before there were government grants. How did they
make it? Well, they sold their works of art on the marketplace.

Listen to part of a lecture in a psychology class.
Professor: All of you know I’m no big fan of television, espe-
cially of commercial TV . . . . still, I have to disagree with the
author’s view of children’s TV and especially with her
assessment of the study that she refers to. For one thing,
I’m a mom myself, and I know how difficult it is to ban tele-
vision altogether from your house, to prevent kids from
watching. Anything that’s forbidden . . . that just makes it
more attractive to kids! Kids’ll just go watch TV at their
friends’ houses if you don’t let them watch at home. So . . .
Section 4 Guide to Writing 69
AUDIO SCRIPT
TOEFL_ASAK_001-140.qxp 4/21/06 1:16 PM Page 69
yeah, parents do need to monitor their children’s TV watch-
ing, but it’s gonna be very, very difficult to unplug the TV
until your kids are 18.
Now, I took a look at the study the author mentions.
Yeah, the study says kids 6 to 7 who watch a lot of TV get
lower test scores. But there’s something the author doesn’t
mention in her article. According to this same study, kids
aged 3 to 5 who watch a lot of television every day score
higher on reading recognition tests than kids who don’t!
What I think is important, is monitoring how much TV
children watch. For children 2 and under, most psycholo-
gists suggest no television, and I agree. For kids over 2, I’d
set strict limits. I’d limit children to two hours a day. That
leaves plenty of time for play and study. I’d mostly let
young children watch only educational shows . . . shows
that are designed to teach children things they need to
know, like how to count, how to recognize the letters of the

and dogs and have no effect on horses.
[CD 11 TRACK 3]
Exercise 22.1
Narrator: Task 1
Listen to part of a lecture in an astronomy class.
Professor: Most astronomers agree that asteroids pose
some danger to Earth, but they . . . they don’t really agree as
to just how much of a danger they pose. Large asteroids,
you know, the kind that can cause global problems, proba-
bly only hit Earth about every 100,000 years. Right now, our
technology is not able to detect all asteroids coming in our
direction. For example, if . . . uh . . . well, if asteroids
approach us from the direction of the Sun, they’re invisible,
invisible until after they’ve already passed us by. Besides,
unless we develop some way to destroy an asteroid in
space before it reaches the planet, it won’t help us to be
able to detect it in space.
Narrator: Task 2
Listen to part of a lecture in a political science class.
Professor: Today I’m gonna talk about the presidential sys-
tem . . . which is the system used in the United States—as
compared to the parliamentary system, which is the British
system, the system used in the U.K. Now, uh, under the
presidential system, there is a strict separation of powers.
In other words, all three branches of government—the
executive, legislative, and judicial branches—they’re all
very much independent of each other. They all have their
own powers. The chief executive, who is called, unsurpris-
ingly, the president—is not part of the assembly—which of
course is called the Congress in the United States. Neither

migration route for birds. However, the Altamont Pass
site—well, it’s an exception. No other wind farm has
resulted in so many bird kills. In some places, like
Denmark, wind energy is already generating a big percent-
age of energy needs. A Danish study showed that a wind
farm in Denmark killed only a few birds a year, less than
the average housecat. Now definitely, we should make sure
that we’re not putting a wind farm in a place that endan-
gers birds. The Altamont plant probably needs some kind
of screening to protect birds, or it needs to be relocated.
However, we should not stop building wind farms! Wind
power is a much cleaner, much safer source of power than
fossil fuels or nuclear energy. We should be building more
wind farms, and as quickly as possible.
Narrator: Task 5
Listen to part of a lecture in an astronomy class.
Professor: Okay, I’m going to give you part of an article that
was written to defend the use of nighttime lighting. Now,
70 Section 4 Guide to Writing
TOEFL_ASAK_001-140.qxp 4/21/06 1:16 PM Page 70
we’ve already talked about how difficult this “light pollution”
makes things for astronomers, so I’m not going to say any
more about that. But to address the question of lighting as a
crime deterrent . . . well, there are just as many studies show-
ing that increased lighting has no effect on crime. That’s
right, zero effect. But the letter that I wrote to the editor of
the campus newspaper, and the ones that my colleagues
wrote, did not ask the university to get rid of outdoor light-
ing, it simply asked the university to get smarter lights. The
typical unshielded street lamp, the kind that is in use on the

the system—take another look at the classification system—
maybe the problem is there!
[CD 11 TRACK 4]
Writing Review Test
This Writing Section tests your ability to write academic
English. It consists of two writing tasks. The first writing
task is an “integrated” task. It involves reading a short pas-
sage and listening to a short lecture on the same topic. You
will then have twenty minutes in which to write a response
based on the information in the passage and the lecture.
Now read the directions for the first writing task.
Narrator: Directions: Take three minutes to read the short
passage on the following page. You may take notes as you
read. After three minutes have passed, start the Audio
Program. You will hear a lecture on the same topic as the
reading. Again, you may take notes as you listen. You will
have twenty minutes to write your response. Your response
should include information from both the reading and the
lecture. Your essay will be rated on the completeness and
accuracy of your response as well as on the correctness and
quality of your writing. A typical response should be 150 to
225 words. You may use your notes and look at the reading
passage as you write. (During the actual exam, you can
view the reading passage on the left side of the computer
screen after the lecture is over.) You will have twenty min-
utes in which to finish the Integrated Writing Task. Begin
reading now. [3-minute pause]
Narrator: Now listen to part of a lecture in an economics
class.
Professor: Morning, everyone. Hope you had a chance to

peace between nations. Perhaps not, but just look at Europe.
For centuries, the great powers of Europe fought wars
among themselves. Then, after World War II, the European
Common Market was set up, and for once there was truly
Free Trade among the members. Today, a war between, say,
France and Germany or France and Britain is unimaginable.
When you’re engaged in a trading relationship that helps
both your country and other countries, there’s no reason to
. . . to risk this relationship with war or aggression.
Narrator: Now get ready to answer the question.
Remember, you may look back at the reading passage. You
may also use your notes to help you. You have twenty min-
utes to prepare and write your response. Summarize the
main points made in the lecture that you just heard, dis-
cussing how they differ from the points made in the read-
ing. You can refer to the reading passage as you write.
Narrator: This is the end of the Review Test and the end of
Section 4, Writing.
[CD 12 Track 1]
Practice Test 1
Listening Section
Narrator: Directions: This section tests your understanding
of conversations and lectures. You will hear each conversa-
tion or lecture only once. Your answers should be based on
Practice Test 1 71
AUDIO SCRIPT
TOEFL_ASAK_001-140.qxp 4/21/06 1:16 PM Page 71
we’ve already talked about how difficult this “light pollution”
makes things for astronomers, so I’m not going to say any
more about that. But to address the question of lighting as a

system! At first, one new kingdom was added. Protozoa and
other microorganisms were put in this kingdom. Later, there
was a five-kingdom model. Today there is an even more
complicated model. There are now three domains divided
up into from eight to fifteen kingdoms, depending on who’s
doing the classifying. So anyway . . . the lesson to be learned
here is—if you’re classifying something, and it doesn’t fit into
the system—take another look at the classification system—
maybe the problem is there!
[CD 11 TRACK 4]
Writing Review Test
This Writing Section tests your ability to write academic
English. It consists of two writing tasks. The first writing
task is an “integrated” task. It involves reading a short pas-
sage and listening to a short lecture on the same topic. You
will then have twenty minutes in which to write a response
based on the information in the passage and the lecture.
Now read the directions for the first writing task.
Narrator: Directions: Take three minutes to read the short
passage on the following page. You may take notes as you
read. After three minutes have passed, start the Audio
Program. You will hear a lecture on the same topic as the
reading. Again, you may take notes as you listen. You will
have twenty minutes to write your response. Your response
should include information from both the reading and the
lecture. Your essay will be rated on the completeness and
accuracy of your response as well as on the correctness and
quality of your writing. A typical response should be 150 to
225 words. You may use your notes and look at the reading
passage as you write. (During the actual exam, you can

borders to trade no longer have income from tariffs. But . . .
governments that collect tariffs on foreign goods are often
the same ones that spend lots of money subsidizing local
farmers, or steel manufacturers. A truly free-market coun-
try will not subsidize inefficient sectors of the economy,
and so the government saves money that way.
The author says that Free Trade doesn’t always lead to
peace between nations. Perhaps not, but just look at Europe.
For centuries, the great powers of Europe fought wars
among themselves. Then, after World War II, the European
Common Market was set up, and for once there was truly
Free Trade among the members. Today, a war between, say,
France and Germany or France and Britain is unimaginable.
When you’re engaged in a trading relationship that helps
both your country and other countries, there’s no reason to
. . . to risk this relationship with war or aggression.
Narrator: Now get ready to answer the question.
Remember, you may look back at the reading passage. You
may also use your notes to help you. You have twenty min-
utes to prepare and write your response. Summarize the
main points made in the lecture that you just heard, dis-
cussing how they differ from the points made in the read-
ing. You can refer to the reading passage as you write.
Narrator: This is the end of the Review Test and the end of
Section 4, Writing.
[CD 12 Track 1]
Practice Test 1
Listening Section
Narrator: Directions: This section tests your understanding
of conversations and lectures. You will hear each conversa-

Creative Writing seminar are going to be reading aloud
from their works at the Student Union . . .
Student: Yeah, I saw a poster about that on the bulletin
board down the hall.
Professor: Yes, well, anyway, Ted, I’m also inviting a few stu-
dents from my undergraduate class to take part, and I’d like
one of them to be you, if you’re willing.
Student: Me? Seriously? I don’t know what to say . . .
Professor: Well, just say you’ll do it, then. The reading will
be in the ballroom of the Student Union at noon next
Friday.
Student: You know . . . I’d really like to read the first two or
three chapters of this novel I’ve been working on . . .
Professor: I was thinking that you could read some of your
poems. In fact, I didn’t even realize that you were writing a
novel. What’s it about?
Student: Umm, well, I . . . it’s about the commercial fishing
business, about working on a fishing boat . . .
Professor: Really? Do you know a lot about that topic?
Student: Well, I grew up in Alaska, and my grandfather
owned a fishing boat, and I worked on it one summer. Plus
my grandfather told me a million stories about fishing. Of
course, I’ve changed the stories some and fictionalized all
the characters.
Professor: I was hoping you’d read that poem about spend-
ing the night alone in the forest . . . what was it called?
Northern Lights, I think . . .
Student: That poem? Huh! When I read it in class, you didn’t
say much about it at all, so I figured . . . I figured you didn’t
much like it.

Narrator: Listen to a conversation between a university
administrator and a student.
Administrator:
Hello, Financial Aid Office, Connie Fong
speaking.
Student: Hi, Ms. Fong. My name’s Dana Hart and I’m a
second-year student. I’m, uh, just calling to see if I can get
some information on your . . . on the work-study program?
Administrator: Sure, happy to help you. What would you
like to know?
Student: Well, what do you . . . what are the requirements
for . . .
Administrator: The eligibility requirements? Okay, first off,
are you taking at least 60% of a full-time academic load?
Student: Yeah, a hundred percent—I’m a full-time student.
Administrator: Okay, that’s fine. Then, let me ask you this,
are you qualified to receive financial aid?
Student: Ummm, I have no idea. I’m not getting any finan-
cial aid now. See, I have a personal bank loan to pay for
my tuition, and my parents are helping me out with my
room-and-board expenses. But I really have no money for
living expenses, so, uh, that’s why I’m hoping to land a
part-time job . . .
Administrator: Well, you’d need to fill out some financial
aid forms to see if you qualify . . . it depends on your level
of income and on your parents’ level of income . . . .
Student: So, if I fill out these forms and . . . and I don’t qual-
ify for financial aid, then . . . then there’s no way I could get
a work-study job?
Administrator: No, uh, no, that’s not necessarily true. You

Administrator: Oh, no, about 25% of all our positions are
off-campus . . . they’re positions with foundations or organ-
izations that we think perform some worthwhile commu-
nity service.
Student: So, how many hours a week is this job?
Administrator: I’ll check . . . it looks like they want some-
one there for around twenty to twenty-five hours a week.
Student: Really? I don’t know if I could put in that much
time and still . . . still do okay in my classes.
Administrator: Well, don’t give up on the position for that
reason. Y’ know, we really encourage job-sharing—two stu-
dents working one position. It’s possible that we could
arrange something where you’d only work about half that
much time.
Student: That sounds more like what I had in mind: ten,
twelve hours a week or so. So what do I do to apply for
this job?
Administrator: Well, the first step is to fill out the Financial
Aid forms I mentioned. You can come down and get them
from the receptionist at the front desk, or you can fill them
out online if you like. Then I’ll call the contact person at the
museum. Let’s see . . . okay, it’s, uh, it’s a Doctor Ferrarra,
he’s the personnel director at the museum. I’ll call him and
set up an interview for you. And you understand that he’s
the one . . . the one who makes the hiring decision, not
anyone in our office, right?
Student: Sure. Okay, then, thanks a lot for all the informa-
tion. I’ll get those forms from your Web site and send them
back to you this afternoon or tomorrow.
Narrator: Now get ready to answer some questions about

snow. Oh, and by the way, the Inuit who lived up in
Greenland, in a place called Thule, they were some of the
most isolated people in the world. Until sometime in the
early nineteenth century, in fact, they thought they were
the only people in the world. Imagine how surprised they
were the first time they met outsiders!
Anyway, when the first Canadians of European descent
arrived in northern Canada, and they saw these houses
made of snow, they asked what they were called. The Inuit
replied, “Igloos,” and so that’s what we call them now. In
English, the word igloo means a dome-shaped house made
of snow. However, it turns out, the word igloo in Inuit just
means house, any sort of house—a house of wood, a house
of snow, whatever.
How did the Inuit make these snow houses? They used
knives made of bone or ivory to cut wind-packed snow into
blocks. They arranged these in a circle and then kept
adding smaller and smaller blocks in a rising spiral until a
dome was formed. Then they’d pack the cracks between
the blocks with loose snow. A skilled igloo-builder could
put up a simple igloo in a couple of hours, and you know
what? He could do it in a blizzard!
The igloo was the only dome-shaped traditional housing
that was built without internal support. It didn’t need any
interior support because, well, because it was so strong.
The bitter Arctic winds caused the outside of the igloo to
freeze solid. Then, the interior was “set” with a seal-oil
lamp. What I mean is, they used these lamps to melt a little
bit of the snow blocks, and then the water refroze into ice.
So you had a layer of ice on the outside of the dome and

year-round housing. They only used igloos when they went
on overnight hunting trips. Today, they don’t use these
Practice Test 1 73
AUDIO SCRIPT
TOEFL_ASAK_001-140.qxp 4/21/06 1:16 PM Page 73
wonderful snow-domes for shelter at all, not even as tem-
porary housing. But, uh, sometimes they’ll build igloos for
special exhibits, and sometimes you’ll see little igloos in
their yards that they build as playhouses for their children.
Narrator: Now get ready to answer some questions about
the lecture. You may use your notes to help you.
Narrator: Question 11: The professor mentions three types
of winter houses used by the Inuit. Match these three types
of houses with the locations where they were used.
Narrator: Question 12: Why does the professor say this?
Professor: Oh, and by the way, the Inuit who lived up in
Greenland, in a place called Thule, they were some of the
most isolated people in the world. Until sometime in the
early nineteenth century, in fact, they thought they were
the only people in the world. Imagine how surprised they
were the first time they met outsiders!
Narrator: Question 13: What can be inferred about the word
igloo?
Narrator: Question 14: In this lecture, the professor
describes the process the Inuit used to build a simple igloo.
Indicate whether each of the following is a step in the
igloo-building process.
Narrator: Question 15: The professor did not mention that
larger igloos were used in which of these ways?
Narrator: Question 16: According to the professor, what did

isn’t accelerating, it’s just coasting; it’s traveling through
space like a bullet that was shot from a gun. What you need
is a ship that can constantly accelerate and keep increasing
its speed. Clearly, rockets won’t work . . .
Student A: What’s wrong with rockets?
Student B: I think I know . . . they couldn’t carry enough
fuel, right?
Professor: Right. It takes an enormous rocket full of fuel just
to lift one of the shuttles into Earth orbit. You could never
carry enough to get to another star. Even if you used nuclear-
powered engines, you just couldn’t bring enough mass.
Student B: Professor, I read an article about a space ship
that used sails to propel itself through space.
Student A: You couldn’t use sails in space, it’s a vacuum . . .
no air . . .
Professor: No, Liza’s right. These aren’t conventional sails,
of course. A scientist named Robert Forward came up with
this idea. He said you could launch a ship with rockets, and
then unfurl these giant sails made of thin plastic—I mean,
many square kilometers of thin plastic sails. Then you fire
intense bursts of laser beams at the sails, and since lasers
travel at light speed, pretty soon, you’re scooting along at
close to the speed of light.
Student B: I thought it was a brilliant idea . . .
Professor: There’s a catch, though . . .
Student A: What’s the catch?
Professor: Well, you’d still need huge amounts of fuel to
power the lasers—more than you could carry. No, to reach
the stars, you need some revolutionary drive system that
requires little or no fuel.

Student B: Professor, I thought you said that, these days,
scientists could detect planets around other stars.
Professor: Well, yes, that’s true, I did say that . . . there have
been hundreds of what are called “extra-solar” planets dis-
covered, but if you remember, I said that almost all of them
are huge planets, gas giants, a lot like Jupiter, probably. And
a few that were discovered recently are smaller, rocky plan-
ets but they are very close to their stars, closer than the
planet Mercury. We still don’t have the know-how to detect
earth-like planets. Maybe the closest earth-like planet is
dozens, even hundred of light years away.
Student A: Well, professor, I guess you’re saying that we’ll
never be able to visit other stars. I just think that’s too bad. I
love science fiction books and movies, and I always hoped
that people would one day be able to whiz around the
galaxy the way people travel around our planet today.
Professor: You know, Mark, I don’t think that trips to the
stars will be practical unless we develop a way to travel
74 Practice Test 1
TOEFL_ASAK_001-140.qxp 4/21/06 1:16 PM Page 74
faster than light, or close to that, and I don’t think that will
ever happen. So . . . I don’t want to rule out anything . . .
who knows what kind of scientific breakthroughs we might
have in the future. But Mark, I don’t think I’d pack my bags
and head for the spaceport any time soon.
Narrator: Now get ready to answer some questions about
the discussion. You may use your notes to help you.
Narrator: Question 17: What is Professor Fuller’s opinion of
Albert Einstein?
Narrator: Question 18: What powers the “sails” on the ship

resemble photographs in many respects.
Now, you have to keep in mind that at this time, in the
60’s and 70’s, art was dominated by Minimalism and
Conceptual Art, which were very non-representational
types of art, very abstract, and so this was . . . this incredi-
ble realism was kind of a reaction to that.
Okay, I’m going to show you a slide of a painting by the
photorealist Audrey Flack. It’s called The Farb Family
Portrait. When she painted this, she used the same tech-
niques that a lot of Photorealists used. First, she took a
photo of the family. Next she drew a grid on her canvas,
dividing the whole surface of the canvas into little squares.
Then she made a slide from the photo and projected the
picture onto her canvas. One by one, she systematically
painted what was projected onto each of the little squares.
Each square was really its own tiny work of art. Audrey
worked with an airbrush, and she used acrylic paints. The
acrylic paints account for the bright, luminous colors that
you see in most of her works. In fact, most Photorealist
paintings tend to be bright and colorful.
So, ah, where did this style of painting come from? You
might say, what’s the big deal, people have been painting
realistically for hundreds of years. The Dutch Masters were
obsessed with getting details right. And in the eighteenth
century there was a European school of painting called
trompe l’oeil, and painters who worked in this style were as
interested as Photorealists in . . . in capturing every detail
of what they saw, in . . . ah, making their subjects look real.
However, these painters were . . . they were also interested
in creating optical illusions, three-dimensional optical illu-

painted only trucks. The point is, Photorealists never chose
grand, inspiring subjects to paint. They always painted ordi-
nary, everyday, banal subjects.
Now I’m going to show you another slide. This picture
was taken at the museum where Duane Hanson’s works
were on display. Looks like a photo of the museum security
guard, doesn’t it? That’s ah, what a lot of the visitors to the
museum thought too. They would come up to the “guard”
and ask him questions. But this isn’t a photo of a flesh-and-
blood person; it’s a photo of one of Hanson’s sculptures.
Hanson was a Photorealist sculptor. He fashioned human-
size statues of people from plastic. He then painted them to
make the plastic look like human skin, and he added hair,
clothing, shoes, jewelry, sometimes props—one of his
sculptures features a man riding on a lawn mower. Again,
his subjects were ordinary people—a car salesman, a
homeless person, a student, a child putting together a puz-
zle. As you’ll see in a couple of minutes, all of these statues
are as realistic as this one of the security guard.
Okay, as promised, I’m, uh, going to have a little slide
show for you. While you’re viewing these works of
Photorealistic art, I’d like you to take notes on what you
think of them. Then, over the weekend, I’d like you to write
a short paper—really short, just a page or two—that
describes your reactions to these works.
Narrator: Now get ready to answer some questions about
the lecture. You may use your notes to help you.
Narrator: Question 23: What does the professor say about
Minimalism and Conceptualism?
Narrator: Question 24: Which of the following did Audrey

Student B: I remember when I was in high school, there
was a bad hailstorm, and it wiped out my parents’ garden.
They were really upset, because they love gardening.
Professor: Well, that’s interesting, those two examples you
gave—because every year, hailstorms cause more than a
billion dollars worth of damage, and you know what? By far
the most damage is done to vehicles and plants—not gar-
dens, really, but farmers’ crops.
Student A: There’s nothing farmers can do? Can’t they cover
their crops with plastic sheets or . . .
Professor: No, there’s no . . . no practical way to protect
crops, although farmers can buy insurance against hail
damage. Now, back in the fourteenth century in Europe,
farmers tried to ward off hail by ringing church bells, bang-
ing on pots and pans, and firing cannons. Hail cannons
were common in wine-producing regions, at least through
the nineteenth century. And . . . uh, in the Soviet Union, as
late as the 1950’s, the government used cannons to shoot
silver iodide crystals into clouds. This . . . uh, was supposed
to make the hailstones smaller so they wouldn’t do as much
damage, but it didn’t really work too well.
Student B: Professor, are people . . . do they get hurt by hail-
storms very often?
Professor: Hurt? Hmmm, well, it doesn’t . . . it doesn’t really
seem like it to me. Sometimes you’ll hear about a person
stuck up in a Ferris wheel or some other ride at an amuse-
ment park being injured, or something like that, but . . . uh,
it doesn’t seem to happen very often, does it? And that’s . . .
well, it’s kind of surprising, isn’t it, considering that hail-
stones can be as big as baseballs—sometimes even bigger—

Student A: So, Professor, you said that you only get hail
when there’s a thunderstorm—is that right?
Professor: Well, hail only forms in cumulonimbus clouds,
which are the only kind of clouds that generate thunder-
storms—though you don’t always get thunder and lightning
when you have hail.
Student B: Sometimes, I’ve seen on weather reports, you get
a lot of hail just before tornadoes.
Professor: Well, that’s true. But hail isn’t always associated
with tornadoes, and . . . uh, not all tornadoes are accompa-
nied by hail.
Student A: So if you just look at a thundercloud from the
ground, can you tell if you’re going to have hail?
Professor: No, not just by looking. But a meteorologist can
tell by using Doppler radar. Doppler radar can “look” inside
a cloud. Okay, we said thunderstorms are most common in
summer. How about hailstorms? When are they most
common?
Student B: I’d guess in the winter.
Professor: Nope, afraid not.
Student A: The hailstorm I was caught in was in April,
maybe early May, so I’d guess spring.
Professor: You’re right. And the part of the United States
where they’re most common is along the Rocky Mountains
. . . in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana . . . . In fact, the most
costly hailstorm in U.S. history was in Denver, Colorado.
Just that one storm caused over . . . I believe it was about
$750 million dollars’ worth of damage.
Narrator: Now get ready to answer some questions about
the discussion. You may use your notes to help you.

Speaking Section
Narrator: Directions: This section tests your ability to speak
about various subjects. There are six tasks in this section.
Listen carefully to the directions and read the questions on
the screen. The first two tasks are Independent Speaking
tasks. You have fifteen seconds in which to prepare your
response. When you hear a beep on the Audio Program, you
will have forty-five seconds in which to answer the question.
The last four tasks are Integrated Speaking tasks. The third
and fourth questions involve a reading text and a listening
passage. You have forty-five seconds in which to read a short
text. You will then hear a short conversation or part of a lec-
ture on the same topic. You may take notes on both the read-
ing and listening passage. You will then see a question on the
screen asking about the information that you have just read
and heard, and you will have thirty seconds in which to plan
a response. When you hear a beep on the Audio Program,
you have sixty seconds in which to answer the question. The
fifth and sixth questions involve a short listening passage.
You may take notes as you listen. After listening to the con-
versation or lecture, you will see a question, and you have
twenty seconds in which to plan your response. When you
hear a beep on the Audio Program, you have sixty seconds in
which to answer the question. During actual tests, a clock on
the screen will tell you how much preparation time or how
much response time (speaking time) remains for each ques-
tion. It is important that you time yourself accurately when
you take this practice test. On an actual test your responses
will be recorded and evaluated by trained raters.
Narrator: Question 1. . . . Please listen carefully . . .

Student A: Lucky for you. I studied Spanish in high school
but, well, my teacher wasn’t a native Spanish speaker and
. . . all we did was memorize grammar rules. I didn’t really
learn much of the language, to tell you the truth. No real
point to my trying to take a test; I’m just going to start over.
Student B: Well, I am too. I kinda agree with what the
regents are saying—you gotta be able to speak another lan-
guage these days. I don’t think you can understand another
culture without speaking at least a bit of the language. And
if you want to work abroad or even just travel, you need
some fluency in another language.
Student A: So . . . what language are you going to study?
Student B: Well, I think I should learn a European language,
just for balance. Probably French or Italian.
Narrator: The woman gives her opinion of the notice writ-
ten by the Dean of Education. Explain her opinion and dis-
cuss the reasons she gives for having this opinion. Please
begin speaking after the beep. [30-second pause, then
beep] [60-second pause] Now stop speaking.
Narrator: Question 4. . . . Please listen carefully . . .
Read the following passage about airships. You will have forty-
five seconds in which to read the passage. Begin reading now.
Narrator: Now listen to a discussion about airships.
Professor: So, how many of you were at the football game
on Saturday night? Quite a few of you, huh? Did you hap-
pen to look up and see something in the sky? Yeah? What
did you see?
Students: A blimp!
Professor: Right, a blimp—it was the Blimp Columbia.
You’ll see the Columbia and other blimps at sporting events

TOEFL_ASAK_001-140.qxp 4/21/06 1:16 PM Page 77
ago. That’s when a German company started building zep-
pelins again. We’ll talk about that in our next class . . .
Narrator: The professor and the students discuss two air-
ships, the blimp Columbia and the zeppelin Hindenburg.
Using information from the passage and the discussion,
compare these two airships. Please begin speaking after the
beep. [30-second pause, then beep] [60-second pause] Now
stop speaking.
Narrator: Question 5. . . . Please listen carefully . . .
Narrator: Listen to a conversation between two students.
Student A: Hi, Diane. Gettin’ ready to go somewhere for
spring break?
Student B: Hey, Mike. Uh, no, this year I guess I’ll just hang
out on campus. I was going to go see my sister in Boston,
but . . . well, I waited too long to make an airline reservation.
The only tickets available are way too expensive for me.
Student A: Why don’t you just drive to Boston?
Student B: I thought about that, but it’s at least a 20-hour
drive, so I’d have to stop somewhere and get a hotel room.
And gas is so expensive these days. Driving there would be
almost as expensive as flying, and I’d be exhausted when I
got there.
Student A: Hey, you should go check the Ride Board over at
the Student Union building.
Student B: What are you talking about?
Student A: You’ve probably seen it, you just didn’t realize
what it was. It’s, well, basically it’s a map of the United Sates
divided up into regions. And for each region there’s an enve-
lope hanging on the wall. If you have a car, you fill out a blue

the two solutions you think is better and why you think so.
Please begin speaking after the beep. [20-second pause,
then beep] [60-second pause, then beep] Now stop speaking.
Narrator: Question 6. . . . Please listen carefully . . .
Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in a botany class.
Professor: Okay, we, uh, we were speaking in our last class
about pollination, about how all flowering plants have to
be pollinated. I said then that, uh, the most common
method of pollination was by bees, butterflies, and other
insects. These insects visit flowers to get a sweet liquid
called nectar that the flowers produce. This is their source
of food. It just so happens that these flowers, these nectar-
rich flowers, are also fertile and are ready to pass on their
pollen to other plants by means of these insects . . . or, uh,
they could also receive pollen the insect has picked up
from another plant.
Now, for most plants, this process is pretty much hit or
miss; it’s pretty random. Insects have no way of knowing
which flowers contain nectar and pollen, so . . . they have
to visit a lot of flowers to find the right ones. However, there
are some plants that have a system that tells the insects
which flowers to visit. It’s based on a color code, believe it
or not. For example, there’s a plant, a shrub called the lan-
tana, and on the first day it blossoms, its flowers are yellow.
That day, the flower is full of pollen and nectar. The next
day, the flower turns orange. There’s less nectar, less pollen.
On the third day it turns red and it’s no longer fertile. It has
no pollen, no nectar. Only about 10% of the lantana’s flow-
ers are yellow at any one time, but insects are ten times
more likely to visit a super fertile yellow flower than a less

your writing. A typical response should be 150 to 225 words.
Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in a psychology class on
the same topic that you just read about.
Professor: Okay, everyone have a chance to read that little
piece I gave you about risk-taking personalities? It comes
from an article in a journal published . . . I don’t know,
maybe seventy years ago.
The author takes a pretty harsh view of risk-taking,
doesn’t he? Today, most psychologists take a somewhat
78 Practice Test 1
TOEFL_ASAK_001-140.qxp 4/21/06 1:16 PM Page 78
more tolerant view of many types of risk-taking than psy-
chologists did then.
Sure, some people are natural risk-takers. And others are
risk-averse. But I can’t go along with this article when it
says there’s a . . . a “universal risk-taking personality.” Some
people take risks in one part of their lives but not in others.
An investment banker might always buy safe stocks, but
then he might race motorcycles on weekends.
The article discusses the connection between risk-taking
and suicidal tendencies. Well, I’d argue that most risk-
takers tend to be pretty confident that nothing bad will
happen to them. They recognize that their activities are
dangerous, sure, but because of their skill, their . . . their
positive attitude . . . their experience, they will succeed.
Motorcycle racers don’t think they will have accidents, no
matter how fast they drive.
The article suggests that there’s no reward for people
who take unnecessary risks. Actually, there are rewards. For
one thing, there’s a physical reward, a chemical reward.

what is stated or implied in the conversations and lectures.
You are allowed to take notes as you listen, and you can use
these notes to help you answer the questions. In some ques-
tions, you will see a headphones icon. This icon tells you
that you will hear, but not read, part of the lecture again.
Then you will answer a question about the part of the lecture
that you heard. Some questions have special directions that
are highlighted. During an actual listening test, you will not
be able to skip items and come back to them later, so try to
answer every question that you hear on this practice test.
This test includes two conversations and four lectures. Most
questions are separated by a ten-second pause.
Narrator: Listen to a conversation between two students.
Student A: Hey, Allen, have you decided who you’re going to
vote for tomorrow? In the student government election?
Student B: Oh, that’s tomorrow?
Student A: Yeah, haven’t you seen the posters all over
campus?
Student B: Tell you the truth, there’re always a lot of posters
around campus, and I never pay much attention to any of
them. So are you running for office again, Janet?
Student A: As a matter of fact, yeah, I am, I’m running for
re-election for the seat on the Student Council that belongs
to the School of Business. But you can’t vote for me,
because you’re in the School of Engineering.
Student B: Oh, that’s how it works? You can only vote for
someone from your own school?
Student A: Right. Each of the ten schools on campus—the
Engineering School, the Law School, the School of Arts and
Sciences, the Business School, all ten of them—has one

thousand dollars. The Council decides how much each
campus organization can spend, it decides what concerts
we’re going to have.
Student B: Tell you the truth, Janet, I’m too busy to join any
organizations or go to any concerts—most engineering stu-
dents are. Besides, everyone knows that student govern-
ment doesn’t have any real power. Real power on this
campus belongs to the Board of Trustees.
Student A: Yeah, but the president of the Student Council
goes to the Trustees’ Meetings. Now it’s true, he or she
doesn’t get to vote, but that doesn’t mean that the Trustees
don’t listen to the Council President’s concerns sometimes.
Just last year . . .
Student B: Well, I have my doubts—I think the Trustees do
what they want to do. But I’ll tell you what, Janet—since
you asked me, I’ll vote in the election tomorrow.
Student A: Great! Then you should also go to the debate
tonight, to figure out who’s the best candidate for you to
vote for.
Practice Test 2 79
AUDIO SCRIPT
TOEFL_ASAK_001-140.qxp 4/21/06 1:16 PM Page 79
more tolerant view of many types of risk-taking than psy-
chologists did then.
Sure, some people are natural risk-takers. And others are
risk-averse. But I can’t go along with this article when it
says there’s a . . . a “universal risk-taking personality.” Some
people take risks in one part of their lives but not in others.
An investment banker might always buy safe stocks, but
then he might race motorcycles on weekends.

ture that you just heard, discussing how they cast doubt on
the main points of the reading. You can refer to the reading
passage as you write.
Narrator: This is the end of the Integrated Skills Writing
Section and of the Audio Program for Practice Test 1.
[CD 13 Track 1]
Practice Test 2
Listening Section
Narrator: Directions: This section tests your understanding
of conversations and lectures. You will hear each conversa-
tion or lecture only once. Your answers should be based on
what is stated or implied in the conversations and lectures.
You are allowed to take notes as you listen, and you can use
these notes to help you answer the questions. In some ques-
tions, you will see a headphones icon. This icon tells you
that you will hear, but not read, part of the lecture again.
Then you will answer a question about the part of the lecture
that you heard. Some questions have special directions that
are highlighted. During an actual listening test, you will not
be able to skip items and come back to them later, so try to
answer every question that you hear on this practice test.
This test includes two conversations and four lectures. Most
questions are separated by a ten-second pause.
Narrator: Listen to a conversation between two students.
Student A: Hey, Allen, have you decided who you’re going to
vote for tomorrow? In the student government election?
Student B: Oh, that’s tomorrow?
Student A: Yeah, haven’t you seen the posters all over
campus?
Student B: Tell you the truth, there’re always a lot of posters

Student B: Well, if I can’t vote for you tomorrow, Janet, I
don’t think there’s much point in voting. I don’t know any-
thing about any of the other candidates.
Student A: You should vote anyway, Allen. You may not
think so, but student government’s important.
Student B: Why? Why should it matter to me who’s on the
Student Council?
Student A: Well, the most important thing is—the Council
gets to decide how to spend your money. Fifteen dollars
from each student’s fees goes into the Student Council’s
general fund. That’s a budget of, like, a hundred and fifty
thousand dollars. The Council decides how much each
campus organization can spend, it decides what concerts
we’re going to have.
Student B: Tell you the truth, Janet, I’m too busy to join any
organizations or go to any concerts—most engineering stu-
dents are. Besides, everyone knows that student govern-
ment doesn’t have any real power. Real power on this
campus belongs to the Board of Trustees.
Student A: Yeah, but the president of the Student Council
goes to the Trustees’ Meetings. Now it’s true, he or she
doesn’t get to vote, but that doesn’t mean that the Trustees
don’t listen to the Council President’s concerns sometimes.
Just last year . . .
Student B: Well, I have my doubts—I think the Trustees do
what they want to do. But I’ll tell you what, Janet—since
you asked me, I’ll vote in the election tomorrow.
Student A: Great! Then you should also go to the debate
tonight, to figure out who’s the best candidate for you to
vote for.

favor is.
Student A: Okay, you know that class I’m taking with
Professor Marquez? Well, she’s asked us to try to find some
volunteers to . . . uh, well, to take part in a role play . . .
Student B: And so what sort of a role would I have to play?
Student A: Well, you won’t find out until tomorrow. See,
we’re learning about focus groups and how they work and
how to be a moderator of a focus group. You and the other
volunteers from outside our class will be members of the
focus groups. The students in my class will take turns being
moderators. In real life, there’s only one moderator for each
focus group, usually, but Professor Marquez wants every-
one to have a chance to play the role of moderator. Now,
since a good focus group has people from different back-
grounds, uh, when you come in the classroom tomorrow,
Professor Marquez will give you a little card that tells you
your vital information: your age, your occupation, how
much education you have, that sort of thing . . . and that’s
the role you play when you’re pretending to be in this focus
group.
Student B: Tell me a little about focus groups. I mean, I’ve
heard of them, but . . .
Student A: All right. Well, according to Professor Marquez,
there are two basic types. There’s . . . uh, the exploratory
group . . . the moderator asks the focus group if a company
should market a new product at all, if there would be any
demand for it. Then there’s the experiential group—you’ll
be in an experiential group tomorrow. Experiential groups,
they try out several versions of a product. People in the
group tell the moderator which version of the product they

free to give their opinions, but you have to keep them on
topic. And you want to help the group develop a . . . a
group identity, a group spirit, you know? But at the same
time you don’t want them to fall into the “group think” trap,
where the members say things just to be going along with
the group . . . being a moderator’s not all that easy, I guess.
Student B: Well, I’m pretty sure I’m free tomorrow after-
noon. Oh, and . . . uh, what flavor ice cream are we going to
be tasting?
Student A: Umm, mint chocolate chip.
Student B: Okay, that settles it . . . I’m in!
Narrator: Now get ready to answer some questions about
the conversation. You may use your notes to help you.
Narrator: Question 6: What subject does Professor Marquez
probably teach?
Narrator: Question 7: What will Professor Marquez give the
man if he comes to her class the next day?
Narrator: Question 8: What does the woman imply about
focus groups that test Hollywood films?
Narrator: Question 9: What will Professor Marquez proba-
bly pay most attention to during the focus group activity?
Narrator: Listen again to part of the conversation.
Student B: Well, I’m pretty sure I’m free tomorrow after-
noon. Oh, and . . . uh, what flavor ice cream are we going to
be tasting?
Student A: Umm, mint chocolate chip.
Student B: Okay, that settles it . . . I’m in!
Narrator: Question 10: What does Tony imply when he
says this?
Student B: Okay, that settles it . . . I’m in!

1852, Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published in book form. It
became extremely popular in the United States—at least in
the Northern half of the United States—and also in Britain.
Harriet Stowe became a celebrity and gave readings all over
the North. If she were writing today, no doubt we’d see her
all the time as a guest on television talk shows.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin’s true historical impact has been
debated. Southerners hated it and said it presented an
unfair, overly negative view of slavery. On the other hand,
some Northern Abolitionists thought that it didn’t go far
enough, that it painted too soft a picture of slavery. But
there’s no doubt that it, uh, stirred up lots of opposition to
slavery and played a role in causing the Civil War.
Supposedly, when Abraham Lincoln met Stowe during the
Civil War, he said to her, “So you’re the little lady whose
book started this great war.”
Basically, Uncle Tom’s Cabin is the story of a group of
slaves. When the book opens, they’re owned by a fairly
humane, kind farmer, but for business reasons, he has to
sell them to new masters. Some—like the character Eliza—
escape and, even though they are chased by hired slave
hunters, they make their way with the help of Abolitionists
to Canada, where they’re safe. Other slaves from this
group—including kindly old Uncle Tom, whom the book is
named for—are taken to the Deep South and are treated
miserably, horribly, and come to tragic endings.
One strange thing about Uncle Tom’s Cabin is that some
of the most famous scenes aren’t in the original book. Soon
after the book was published, it began to inspire theatrical
versions, little dramatic plays called “Tom Shows.” These

Narrator: Question 13: Why does the professor mention
Charles Dickens?
Narrator: Question 14: What does the professor say about
the scene in which Eliza is chased across the icy river by
men with dogs?
Narrator: Question 15: In this lecture, the professor men-
tions a number of criticisms of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s
novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Indicate whether each of the fol-
lowing is a criticism that was mentioned in the lecture.
Narrator: Listen again to part of the lecture. Then answer
the question.
Professor: Anyway, sentimental or not, Uncle Tom’s Cabin is
still an important book. I don’t think you can understand
the pre–Civil War era in the U.S. without reading it. Now,
our textbook has some short selections from the novel, but
I really suggest you go to the library and get a copy and
read it cover to cover.
Narrator: Question 16: What does the professor suggest to
the students when she says this?
Professor: But, I really suggest you go to the library and get
a copy and read it cover to cover.
Narrator: Listen to a lecture in a geology class.
Professor: Morning, everyone. Everyone have a good week-
end? As I said on Friday, I want to talk some about glaciers
today. Now, glaciers just start with ordinary snow, but in
some parts of the world—in . . . uh, polar and mountainous
regions—snow builds up, it accumulates faster than it is
removed by melting in the summer. Now, ordinary snow is
about 80% air and about 20% solids. This snow melts and
refreezes several times, and becomes a dense, more com-